


Bungled Birthday

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Birthday, Established Relationship, Fluff, Love, M/M, Trapped in The Workshop, proposal, snuggles, tony's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: There's an entire birthday party of people - including cake, presents, and Tony's favourite thing: Bucky - waiting for him upstairs, but Tony won't get any of it. Because he's trapped in the damn workshop.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 17
Kudos: 375
Collections: StarkBucksBingo2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020, Tony's Birthday Party (PotsCast)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to ashes0909 for beta!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter one:  
> TSB:  
> Card #: 3137 - FestiveFerret  
> Square: R2 - "Workshop Troubles"
> 
> StarkBucks:  
> Name: FestiveFerret  
> Square: G4 - "Birthdays"

"Babe. Come out."

"I can't!" Tony rubbed his hand over his face.

He could hear Bucky's sigh through the workshop door. "I know you get all weird about the birthday thing, but everyone just wants to celebrate with you. Please?"

"No, sweetheart, you don't get it.  _ I can't.  _ I'm trapped in here."

"What?"

"The door won't open."

"Excuse me?" There was a short pause. "JARVIS, open the door."

"I'm afraid I can't, sir."

Tony rolled his eyes. He'd been through all of this already. 

"Why can't JARVIS open the door?"

"I updated the workshop security software and I made a mistake. When I made it live, it got stuck in a loop. To stop it, I'd have to shut JARVIS down and the whole tower would be completely unprotected for nearly half an hour, which is a major risk. Luckily, it's not an endless loop, it'll work through all the number combinations eventually, and I'll be able to close it down and reload the old version without a gap."

"How long?"

"About two hours, I think?"

"Tony…"

"I know, I know." He pressed his palm flat against the door. "I'm sorry. You had this big plan for my birthday party, and I fucked it up. I should have waited until tomorrow to update the code."

"No, babe, that's not what I meant. Tony, honey, you're stuck in your workshop on your  _ birthday."  _ Bucky sighed again. "You okay? You have food and water and everything?"

"Fully stocked."

"It's already ten o'clock. By the time you get out, it won't be your birthday anymore."

Tony winced. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not  _ mad  _ at you, babe. I'm sad. I miss you. I'm sorry this happened today, of all days."

Tony slumped back against the door and slid to his butt. "You should probably send everyone home."

"They don't mind waiting a few hours."

"When I said two hours… that was a guess. It could be as much as six."

"Six!"

"Or more."

"Tony! Gah. Okay. It's okay. I'll go let people know and I'll be back down in a minute."

Tony listened to Bucky's footsteps stomp off towards the stairs. God, he'd fucked this up so much. Sometimes it felt like the more he loved Bucky - and three years in, it was  _ a lot  _ \- the more he screwed things up, trying to be a good boyfriend. He'd done the security update tonight because he knew Bucky would want him to stay in bed tomorrow morning, have pancakes in their pajamas (or in nothing at all if the night before had gone the way he'd expected) and be all his for the day. He called it a "birthday hangover" and it had become somewhat of a tradition. 

But Tony'd found a hole in the security system that morning, and if he left it alone, it would torture and distract him. He'd gotten it out of the way so he could be Bucky's, mind and body, all the way through until Monday. Except that his body was on this side of the door, and Bucky's was on the other, so that wasn't exactly working the way he'd planned.

Well, he could at least get some work done.

Tony went back to his desk and started trawling through his code with a fine tooth comb. He already knew where the problem lay, but he didn't want to restart everything and find out there was another issue. Half an hour later, the speaker buzzed again.

"Babe?"

"Hey, Buck." Tony looked longingly towards the door, but with the lock engaged, the glass was opaque.

"I sent everyone home. We're going to try again next weekend."

Tony let out a long sigh. It was a relief to know he wasn't holding thirty people up anymore, but also a bummer to know the party was well and truly cancelled. "Okay."

"Come here, Tony."

Tony walked over to the door and leaned against it, ear to the glass. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. At least you're not in any real danger. It's just annoying."

"True."

"Considering our lives, it's a birthday present to only be stuck in the workshop, I suppose. It's where you like to be best." Bucky chuckled.

"Not true." Tony tapped his head against the door. "Where I like to be best is with you."

"Hey, JARVIS?" Bucky said. "Hit it."

"What -?" Tony spun around to see a hologram birthday cake appear, floating in the air next to him, each candle flickering with orange light. Tony reached out and poked one of the candles, his fingers going right through it. "Aww, shit. You didn't have to do that."

"Happy birthday to you," Bucky sang softly, his voice a little distorted by the speaker. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, my Tony. Happy birthday to you."

Tony blew and the candles flickered out. 

"We'll do it for real at the makeup party."

"Thank you." Tony couldn't pull his eyes away from the birthday cake glittering in front of him. "Love you."

"Love you, too. Happy birthday."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two:  
> TSB:  
> Card #: 3137 - FestiveFerret  
> Square: R4 "Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes"
> 
> StarkBucks:  
> Name: FestiveFerret  
> Square: G3 "Proposal"

Tony woke with a start as the door behind him clicked and swung open. He tumbled backwards onto the floor with a yelp.

"What!" Bucky startled next to him, flailing with one hand nearly smacking Tony in the face with vibranium plating. 

"Ahh! Buck. Watch it."

"Tony! You're free!"

Tony pushed up to sitting and looked around at the hallway. "I'm free!" He checked his watch. It was three in the morning. "What are you doing out here?"

Bucky coloured prettily. "Waiting for you. What are you doing sleeping on the floor?"

Tony grinned. "Waiting for you. Kiss me."

"Okay." Bucky folded over to press their lips together, tipping Tony back onto the floor under him. 

Tony hummed into the kiss, melting as Bucky's tongue brushed against his. He'd only been stuck in the workshop for five hours, and he'd gone much longer than that without Bucky's touch, but every time he was told he  _ couldn't  _ do something, it just made him want to do it all the more.

"Hungry?" Bucky asked.

"Very. I had a granola bar for lunch because I was expecting to gorge myself on party food."

"Come up. All the leftovers are in the fridge."

Bucky took Tony's hand and led him upstairs. The rifled through the fridge and filled a large plate to share then put it in the microwave to warm. While they waited, Bucky pressed up against Tony's back and rubbed the knots out of his shoulders. 

Tony groaned as Bucky's metal thumb dug in right where it ached most. "God, I'm way too old to sleep on the floor."

Bucky chuckled. "You didn't have to. You have a couch in there."

Tony just leaned back against Bucky's chest and his arms wrapped around him and squeezed. He knew they both knew they'd been stupid to sleep by the door when there were couches and beds available. But he also knew if it happened again, they'd both do the same thing.

The microwave chimed and Tony took the food while Bucky carried the entire birthday cake that no one had eaten upstairs to their room. They climbed into bed, with the plates next to them, and curled up, Tony between Bucky's legs, back against his chest. 

They devoured the food and moved onto the cake, digging forks right into it instead of bothering with slices. 

"I got you something." Bucky took the cake plate away and replaced it in Tony's lap with a small box wrapped in shiny, silver paper. There was a red bow on top. 

"You didn't have to do that." Tony snuggled back against Bucky's chest and hugged Bucky's arms around him. He twisted his head around to sneak a kiss. "Thank you."

"Happy birthday."

Tony peeled the paper off to find a small, velvety jewelry box. It was pretty unusual for him to wear jewelry, even more unusual for Bucky to give it to him. But the box was too small to be a tie or a watch which would be more expected. "What -?" He levered it open.

There was a ring inside.

He could feel the deep breath that shifted Bucky's chest behind him.

It was a simple band, dark grey metal that glinted against the light in a heart-stoppingly familiar way. Tony tugged it loose and rolled it between his fingers. There was an engraving on the inside:  _ Yours - B. _

"Is this -?" Tony asked.

Bucky let the breath out. "If you want it to be. I mean, we don't have to make a thing out of it. So it can just be a promise, if you like that better. Either hand is fine. Or I'll get you a chain for it. I just… I found myself wanting to leave a mark on you that lasted a little longer than a hickey."

Tony snorted, breaking off into a nervous giggle. "What if I want to make a thing out of it?"

Bucky pressed warm lips to the side of Tony's neck and he could feel the smile there. "Then we'll make a thing out of it."

"Okay." Tony picked up Bucky's hand where it lay on his stomach and handed him the ring, then held out his left hand.

Bucky hooked his chin over Tony's shoulder to watch as he slid the ring into place. It fit perfectly. "I meant to give this to you last night, step away from the party for a minute so you could... make a thing out of it if you wanted to. But I couldn't wait until next weekend, sorry." Bucky tipped Tony's hand and the light bounced off the ring. The weight was still new, but Tony couldn't wait until it felt wrong to be without it. 

"Hey, JARVIS?" Tony asked.

"Yes, sir?"

"Next week's party, it's going to be a combo party now. Birthday  _ and  _ engagement."


End file.
